My dog has low platelets on blood test. Is this normal or concerning?

Question

I took my dog (female cavachon 5 yrs 8 mons) to vet for scratching of ears which are red/inflamed. I asked for blood work to be done. Vet called said everything was normal. I picked up copy of report. I noticed everything was within normal ranges except for platelet count. PLT 132 K/uL (range 148-484). PCT 0.13% (range 0.14-0.46) Should I be concerned with these low numbers? Should I ask my vet for additional testing? I’m wondering if my vet overlooked this or if this is nothing to worry about. Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 5 years and 8 months old | 19.5 lbs

Jenny, DVM · Accepted Answer

Platelet counts can be artificially low depending on the quality of blood draw and sample. Some patients wiggle or the blood does not go in to the tube fast enough. when this happens, the blood has time to clot. Clotting is what the platelets do, so the counts can be artificially low. Often times if there is concern you can retest a sample or actually look at the blood under the microscope to see the platelets that are there when the machine didn't count then due to already clotting. If there are no bleeding problems or bruising then I would not worry

My dog has low platelets on blood test. Is this normal or concerning?

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